NIEHS has announced a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) designed to reward individuals from its grant recipient community by investing in people rather than projects. Four to five awards will be made to individuals demonstrating the potential to conduct outstanding, innovative, and transformative research and a vision to advance the environmental health sciences.

Awardees will have the freedom to pursue new research directions as they arise throughout the funding period, and to focus on research, mentoring, and scientific service rather than time spent writing and managing multiple grant applications and awards.

Below are five things to know about the new funding opportunity.

1. Funding opportunity number and title
   RFA-ES-24-004, Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research (RIVER) (R35 Clinical Trial Optional)
    
2. Application deadline
   November 1, 2024.
    
3. Who is eligible to apply?
   Higher education institutions, nonprofits, for-profit organizations, local governments, including Indian/Native American Tribal Governments, and community-based organizations. See the full list in the NOFO. 
   For this NOFO, an applicant must be the program director/principal investigator (PD/PI) on at least one active, or recently active, single-PD/PI NIEHS-supported R01-equivalent award (defined as an R01, DP1, DP2, DP5, or U01) that has been supported by NIEHS for four years. Awards must have been active during fiscal years 2023 or 2024.
    
4. NOFO-specific tips
   • Prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent by Oct. 1 to Leroy Worth Jr., Ph.D. The letter of intent should include a descriptive title of proposed activity, PD/PI name and contact information, and participating institutions.
   • This funding opportunity is intended to support the majority of an individual's independent research program. The PD/PI is required to dedicate at least 6 person months of effort to the R35 project and to consolidate other support from NIEHS into the R35 award.
   • For the Research Plan, Specific Aims must not be submitted. The Research Strategy, which will evolve over the funding period, should focus on general scientific themes and approaches to address broad but critical questions within the area of study. The investigator’s broad ‘goals’ and use of emerging techniques rather than specific experimental details should be included. See additional review criteria specific to the NOFO.
   • The application must include one Letter of Recommendation (from a peer explaining the outstanding contributions of the candidate to the environmental health sciences, and why a sustained and flexible research program would be a good fit), and one Letter of Support from the candidate’s institution.
   • Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss current awards that may be consolidated with the NIEHS program officers listed below.
5. Additional resources
   • Notice of Funding Opportunity announcement.
   • Research (R) instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
   • NIEHS funding opportunities webpage.
   • Read about a recent RIVER grantee.

Please direct questions related to the scientific aspects of this NIEHS funding opportunity to Jennifer Collins, Kimberly Gray, Ph.D., and Fred Tyson, Ph.D.